Chicago's three major terminal roads, the Belt Railway of Chicago, the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern and the Indiana Harbor Belt are featured prominently at many of the junctions covered on this website. For more information about them, try the links below. Two other important freight roads are listed as well: Chicago, South Shore & South Bend and Chicago Rail Link, an Omnitrax company. Omnitrax also owns Manufacturers Junction, an area shortline.
Click here for a current locomotive roster of the Indiana Harbor Belt.
Click here for a current locomotive roster of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern.
Click here for a current locomotive roster of the Belt Railway.
For more information on Chicago area railroads and rapid transit, see the following websites. The first contains information on small terminal and switching lines in the area. You might want to consider subscribing to their newsletter. The second listing is Bill Vandervoort's well-known site containing valuable information on all aspects of Chicago railroading.
For track diagrams and historical information about many Chicago area junctions,
see Mark Bej's
Pennsylvania Railroad Interlocking Diagrams.
If full funding can be obtained, a massive reworking of rail lines in the Chicago area will be undertaken in the next few years. As of May, 2008, the plan has received limited funding, and a few smaller projects are underway or have been completed. Known as CREATE (Chicago Region and Environmental Transportation Efficiency), here is a brief description: Proposed Chicago Rail Plan. To reach the CREATE website, click here.
Some of the locations covered on this site can be reached by commuter train or rapid transit from downtown Chicago. Specific information is provided on their webpages. The local commuter rail authority is Metra, an agency of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA). The rapid transit system--also an RTA agency--is the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). For routes, downtown departure stations, schedules and maps, see their websites. The Chicago, South Shore & South Bend passenger operation is a service of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD).
John Szwajkart's well-known book, Trainwatcher's Guide to Chicago, 3rd ed., is highly recommended and makes for a nice companion volume to this website. Although the rash of rail mergers has made some of its material obsolete, John has provided updated information at his own site, Szwajkart Books, Videos and DVDs. John also has guides to St. Louis and Kansas City, as well as numerous tapes on Chicago and midwestern railroading. For more, check out his website.
PENTREX: Today's Chicago Railroads;
Classic Chicago Railroading.
GREEN FROG:
Chicago Odyssey, Vols. 1 and 2; South Shore Line.
PLETS EXPRESS:
Trains of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern.
MACHINES OF IRON:
Indiana Harbor Belt and Belt Railway of Chicago.
For links to thousands of railroad-related sites, see:
Railserve
NMRA Directory
Webville & Hypertext Railroad
RailroadData.com
The Railfan Network
TrainWeb
For sites listing nationwide rail locations, see:
Railfans Welcome
Frograil Rail Locations